The assembly’s Government Affairs and Services Committee unanimously recommended allocating $125,000 to the Haines Economic Development Corporation that will be used to study the structural, social and educational needs of the valley should an operating mine be built at the site of the Palmer Project.
Committee members Cheryl Stickler, Debra Schnabel and Gabe Thomas heard a presentation from HEDC executive director Cindy Zuluaga Jimenez at its Tuesday meeting. She said the money will go toward a study of the Palmer Project in the Chilkat Valley that will look at impacts on schools and medical facilities, and housing and transportation needs. HEDC will produce the report in collaboration with the McKinley Research Group, formerly known as the McDowell Group.
Stickler said she’s questioned funding HEDC in the past because she was unsure how the money would be spent, but praised the group’s current efforts.
“Where do we stand now if major industry does come to our valley,” Stickler said. “Where are we, and how are we poised with infrastructure to accommodate needs and growth. I really appreciate this forward look.”
The funding will also go toward a resource map of value-added timber economic opportunities including manufacturing, logging and cultural uses.
Schnabel said she didn’t think the work could be done with the amount of money requested, and said the assembly should provide more funding to HEDC.
The full assembly will discuss the committee’s recommendation during future budget hearings. If the assembly approves the funding, it will be the most the group has received from the borough in three years. Thomas said he supports HEDC’s current efforts, but in the past he voted to cut HEDC’s funding because it was a “closed-knit group.”
“You could see certain members of that group benefiting greatly, whereas other people didn’t,” Thomas said.
Mayor Douglas Olerud rebuked Thomas’s claim and said he should be more careful about the way he speaks about individuals.
“I’m not aware of anybody that benefited financially from being involved in the organization,” Olerud said. “You need to be very careful with your phraseology and the implications of some of your words.”
The group was created in 2017 when the assembly appropriated $95,000 to get it started. That funding continued until 2020 when the assembly cut its funding.
The GASC committee also recommended creating a Community Builder Award that would allow people to nominate residents who display public service.